Screen Time Morbidly linked To Diabetes In Children

Are parents allowing too much screen time for their children? A recent study confirms health problems associated with screen time are morbidly affecting their health.

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Health problems associated with computer use are nothing new. Television, tablets, laptops, and phone screens are taking children away from jump rope, hopscotch, playing hide and seek, climbing trees, swimming and using their imagination. Inactivity, eating more processed and addictive fast foods, coupled with mindless scrolling, is a recipe for poor health in all children, especially those at higher risk for obesity. Obesity in turn, leads to sluggish liver, insulin resistance, and if left unchecked, ultimately, type 2 diabetes.

New research from The British Medical Journal revealed that too much screen time for children could result in insulin resistance and thus, type 2 diabetes.

Researchers looked at 4495 children aged nine to ten years who were at risk for obesity and reported their daily screen time in objective physical activity. Results showed that those reporting screen time over three hours had higher body fat and insulin resistance than those who spend one hour or less on television and screen time. Further, it was concluded that reducing screen time could facilitate early type 2 diabetes prevention.
Type 2 Diabetes Is Early Stage Liver Disease

While the study didn’t link directly to a diabetes diagnosis, it did suggest what we know to be true: that obesity and insulin resistance are the precursors to prediabetes. If the behaviors of inactivity and poor eating habits continue, so begins the journey of a child to type 2 diabetes.

Notably, type 2 diabetes is a liver issue that stems from what is known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. While obesity is a often a precursor of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, not only those who are obese have the condition. The cause of fatty liver is, in part, due to a poor, processed and fast food diet, high in fat, high in protein and high in fast and processed foods. Other causes may involve toxins such as BPAs from plastics, pesticides and pharmaceuticals in the liver, as well as viral issues.
Many American Children Have Been Hooked On Processed Foods Since Birth

“For many Americans, our processed food habit begins before birth. No longer are we born to parents who were breastfed or raised on chemical-free, whole foods, like our great-grandparents were. Today’s children are born to parents raised on processed foods – foods loaded with chemicals, additives, pesticides and GMOs, and they’re exposed to these harmful agents in the very food they eat. Today’s child enters the world with a low vitality and a weakened constitution of health from birth. This, low vitality unfortunately, follows him/her throughout life and is passed along to the next generation. This is why statistics are against our younger generations for longevity. Children born in American are:

Not breastfed. (Only 49% of American children are breastfed.)

Exposed to toxic pesticides in utero, via the diet of their mother.

Fed a synthetic sweetened ‘formula’ at birth (likely produced with GMO soy and added sugar.)

Fed rice, barley, and oat cereal as a second-stage food prematurely.

Graduated to processed/jarred foods and meats, often before their digestive systems can handle it.

Fed processed foods and snacks throughout their childhood. These foods are loaded with sugar and salt, causing excessive thirst, weight gain and enforcing a processed food habit that will carry over into adulthood and, if not corrected, into the next generation.

Allergic to their food.

Our habit of lifestyle and eating has gotten so out of hand that some experts predict our children are guaranteed to have shorter lifespans than their previous generation. They’re predicted to suffer with low Vitamin D levels from lack of sun exposure, autoimmunity, digestive issues, blood disorders and cancer. They’re burdened with ADHD, ADD, autism, and spectrum disorders. They are the youngest candidates for heart disease, obesity, high cholesterol, fatty liver, and cancer.

Our national bad habit has afflicted the next generation. Undoubtedly all disease is in some way diet related. While it may sound simplistic, most disease can be prevented by good diet and lifestyle habits.

Processed foods are made to be addictive, which is why we can’t stop craving them. Once an addiction to wheat, salt and sugar develops its difficult to deal with the feelings of withdrawal. However, there is a reason why this happens. The main reason processed foods are a hard habit to break is because of the bliss point. The bliss point is an intentional hijacking of the palate. It is just the right amount of sugar and salt to stimulate the palate to create a yearning and desire for more processed foods. In the book Sugar, Salt, Fat: How the Giants Hooked Us, it is disheartening to learn the intentions of the food industry in formulating our national addiction to processed foods.

What’s more, health problems associated with computer use have been linked to strained eyes, back and neck pain, headaches, shoulder and arm pain, and bad posture. But this is the first time screen time had detrimentally been linked to a chronic disease.

With children eating processed food diets since birth, eating little or no health-promoting foods, such as fruits and vegetables, and spending hours looking at their hand held devices instead of running, swimming and playing, America’s children are in no doubt in danger of becoming morbidly obese and ultimately diabetic.Sadly, health problems associated with computer use will not be going away anytime soon. Therefore the solution lies in lifestyle adjustments that prioritize limiting screen time and correcting diet.